St Agnes' Anglican Church, Black Rock
[Photograph from the Parish Facebook page]
St Agnes' Anglican Church, Black Rock
[Photograph from the Parish Facebook page]
Historical and Technical Documentation by John Maidment and Geoffrey Cox
© OHTA 2018 (last updated September 2018)
The Anglican Parish of St Agnes, Black Rock was established in 1895. Construction of a small weatherboard building commenced in 1899 and the church was dedicated on 21 July that year.1 The weatherboard church was destroyed by fire in February 1913, and the foundation stone of the present brick church was laid on 2 November 1913.2 The new building was dedicated in April 1914.3
The first St Agnes' Church, Black Rock
[Photograph from http://www.manins.net.au/black-rock/stagnes_notes.html]
First Organ.
The first organ at St Agnes' Church was built by Geo Fincham & Son in 1911. The specification and estimate, dated 21 June 1911, can be found in the Fincham specification books as follows:
Specification & estimate of organ for St Agnes' Church, Black Rock
(Accepted)
| Great Organ Open Diapason Claribel Dulciana Principal Flute (stopped) |
metal wood grooved in bass metal metal wood |
CC to A CC to A C to A CC to A CC to A |
58 pipes 58 pipes 46 pipes 58 pipes 58 pipes |
8 feet 8 feet 8 feet 4 feet 4 feet |
| Swell Organ Gedact Gamba t Voix Celeste Flute (clear) Spare slide |
wood metal metal wood |
CC to A C to A C to A CC to A |
58 pipes 46 pipes 46 pipes 58 pipes |
8 feet 8 feet 8 feet 4 feet |
| Pedal Organ Bourdon |
wood |
CCC to F |
30 pipes |
16 feet |
| Couplers Swell to Great Sub Octave Swell to Great Swell to Great Super Octave Swell to Pedal Great to Pedal |
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| 3 composition pedals to Great Organ Balanced crescendo pedal to Swell Organ 16 stops [+ couplers] 576 pipes The action to be mechanical throughout on the most modern and approved system. The whole of the pipework to be of full cathedral scale. 260-0-0 pounds Debentures to the value of 60-0-0 pounds to be accepted To be completed and erected within four months.4 |
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The organ was dedicated by the Very Rev the Dean of Melbourne in November 1911, and a hydraulic engine was installed some time later.5 Less than two years after its installation, the Fincham organ was destroyed by fire in February 1913, along with the weatherboard church itself.
Second Organ.
Following the fire that destroyed the first church and even before the new church was built, a new two-manual organ had been ordered as early as July 1913.6 Built by Charles Richardson of Sydney, it was dedicated on Saturday 11 March 1916, the opening having been postponed because of delays in shipping the pipes and other components from England:
The new organ dedication fixed for this afternoon at St. Agnes's has been postponed for a fortnight. The instrument cost £500, and is two manual, and contains 600 pipes. The organ was put together in Sydney, but the work was delayed owing to the difficulty in obtaining shipment for the pipes and other parts which were ordered from England before the war.7
The dedication of the instrument was followed by an organ recital given by the choir with the church organist, Mr Ernest Rayment:
ORGAN DEDICATED
There was a large attendance at St. Agnes' Church, Black Rock, on Saturday, when Dr. A. V. Green, formerly Bishop of Ballarat, dedicated the new church organ. An interesting programme had been arranged. It included a recital from selected composers, the choir being assisted by Mrs Mewton Wood, Miss Mabel Thompson, and Messrs Albert Guy and Ernest Rayment. The new instrument created a very favorable impression. In voicing it skilled attention has been paid to the acoustic properties of the church. The tonal effects obtainable on the swell organ are particularly fine for solo work, as well as for playing accompaniments. Church organists and members of vestries are invited to inspect the instrument. The Rev. H. H. J. Norwood is the vicar.8
The Richardson organ at St Agnes' Church, Black Rock
[Photograph supplied by Robert Heatley (origin and date unknown)]
The specification of the Richardson organ was as follows:
GREAT |
8 8 8 4 8 8 8 8 4 8 16 8 |
Swell tremulant
Tubular-pneumatic action
Sliderless soundboards
Balanced swell pedal.9
The Richardson organ was purchased around 1965 by St Mary's Anglican Church, South Camberwell, Vic. Most of its pipework (excluding the Swell Harmonic Flute 4ft) was incorporated by George Fincham & Sons into a new organ at St Mary's in 1967. The South Camberwell instrument was removed around 2016. It was in turn rebuilt and enlarged by Hargraves Pipe Organs of Mt Evelyn, Vic. at St Peter's Catholic Church, Surry Hills, NSW in 2018.
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1 http://www.stagnesblackrock.org.au/about/ - accessed September 2018.
2 The Argus (19 February 1913), p. 5; http://www.manins.net.au/black-rock/stagnes_notes.html - accessed September 2018.
3 Sandringham Southern Cross (18 April 1914), p. 3; The Herald (4 May 1914), p. 3.
4 Geo. Fincham & Son specification book 23 (1905-1912), p. 462 (21 June 1911).
5 The Herald (24 February 1913), p. 3.
6 The Age (22 July 1913), p. 8.
7 Brighton Southern Cross (26 February 1916), p. 2; see also (11 March 1916), p. 2.
8 The Herald (13 March 1916), p. 8; The Weekly Times (18 March 1916), p. 8.
9 Specification supplied to John Maidment by Robert Heatley, 1966.